


Powerless: A PPG Story

by AgentofMischief



Series: My PPG AU [1]
Category: Powerpuff Girls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Future, Angst, F/M, FusionFall inspired AU, Gen, Loss of Powers, Other, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-05-25 07:25:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6185791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentofMischief/pseuds/AgentofMischief
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years after the Girls lose their powers, Buttercup is still adjusting to the loss. She feels just like a normal, utterly boring little girl. Luckily, she has Ace D. Copular, her long-time boyfriend, for support. However, Ace has found a large store of Chemical X  just outside of Townsville and Buttercup must make a difficult, life changing choice...one that might get someone sent to the hospital. Will she make the right choice? How much does being an ultra super hero mean to her? And just who is responsible for all that Chemical X?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Date Night

**Author's Note:**

> This my own AU, while it follows most of the canon of the original animated series, I have changed a few things to better suite the story. It also shares some things with FusionFall, such as all the Cartoon Network characters existing in the same universe.

It had been two years since Buttercup had lost her powers, but she wasn't sure she'd ever get used to it. And on top of that, she looked... well, almost like a normal little girl, fingers, nose, and all.  
It seemed as though the Chemical X running through her and her sisters' veins had an expiration date after all.  
At least her boyfriend had been patient and supportive throughout the whole ordeal. At least _Ace_ had been patient and supportive throughout the whole ordeal. Buttercup blushed when she thought about his stubble brushing across her cheek when they kissed.  
The Professor hadn't approved of Ace at first, after all, he had been the leader of the Gangreen Gang once upon a time, but Ace had proven himself over the years and given up his life of crime.  
And never had Buttercup been more happy to have Ace on her side than the day she, Blossom, and Bubbles had lost their powers... on the day that marked the thirteenth year since she was created by Professor Utonium in his lab. That whole day had been a blur. She had woken up, seen fingers, a cute little button nose, a normal sized head in the mirror and let out a yelp of surprise.  
She'd run to the Professor's lab, only to find that Blossom and Bubbles were there, too, wearing now absurdly tiny night gowns that had fit just the day before. He'd asked them to try to use their powers, but to no avail. Professor Utonium concluded that the Chemical X had worn worn off and that from now on, the PowerPuff Girls were no more.  
"You don't understand," Buttercup had yelled at Blossom. "You're smart, Bubbles is perky, but I'm nothing without my powers! Just a normal little girl with a big mouth."  
Buttercup vaguely remembered the Professor taking them on a shopping trip to pick out a new wardrobe, seeing as their old clothes no longer fit, but she'd only numbly picked out a few black and green dresses, not unlike the ones she'd used to wear.  
Only a day or so later, the story had been all over TV, in the newspaper, and online: No More PowerPuffs? An insurmountable number of press conferences, interviewers, and reporters had all been eager to find out what had caused Townsville's favorite heroines to lose their powers.  
The truth of the matter was even Professor Utonium himself wasn't sure. Did the Chemical X have an expiration date? Did it only work for thirteen years at a time? Could the hormones released during puberty be an antidote for Chemical X?  
Through all that, Ace had been there by her side, as even Blossom and Bubbles, who had adjusted to life without powers quite well, never had. At first, Ace and Buttercup had merely been friends, though she'd always secretly had a crush on him. When she'd first told him how she felt about him, Buttercup had expected Ace to tell that she was too young or they were too different. She'd thought that like everything in her short life that she'd wanted or cared about, she'd have to fight for it. Except that... Ace hadn't been into that kind of drama.  
He had simply and straightforwardly admitted that he felt the same way. Buttercup had kissed him then, not caring about the pointiness of his rather fang-like teeth.  
That had been around a year and a half ago by Buttercup's count, and strangely enough, they were still together. (At least, it felt strange to her.) She couldn't help but wonder if maybe one day they would take the relationship to the next level and get mar-- but, no, they were young and that was a silly Bubbles kind of thing to think about.  
"Buttercup and Ace sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G," Blossom and Bubbles chanted as Buttercup came into the living room. "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Ace with the baby carriage."  
Buttercup glared at them and muttered something about where they could shove said baby carriage. Her sisters merely giggled in response as she plopped down on the sofa.  
"Hey, Buttercup, lookin' good," Blossom teased.  
"Yeah, you look really great, sis." Bubbles chimed in.  
"Going on a date with Ace tonight?" Blossom arched an eyebrow.  
Buttercup merely stuck her tongue out at her red-haired sister.  
"I'll take that as a yes." Blossom giggled.  
The girls had become accustomed to and maybe even liked Ace, now that the Gangreen Gang were protectors of the city of Townsville instead of destroyers, but for whatever reason, Buttercup's sisters found Ace's relationship with her hilarious. When Buttercup had first told her sisters that they were now a couple, her announcement had been met with peals of laughter, and choruses of "I told you so!" and "I knew it!" Buttercup had turned nearly as red as Blossom's hair bow.  
Buttercup rapidly clicked through the channels as the minutes dragged by. Ace was late. Then again, he was _always_ late, something Buttercup had gotten used. Yet today...he was even later than usual. Another twenty minutes went by before she heard a vehicle with an extremely noisy engine pull into the driveway. Buttercup leapt up from her seated position and peered out the window, her nose pressed up against the glass.Sure enough, it was Ace and was he riding a...motorcycle?  
Buttercup pulled on her favorite jacket, a black and green affair, and rushed downstairs, nearly tripping as she did.  
"I never used to do that before I lost my powers." she thought.  
When she got to the front door, Professor Utonium stood there in front of it, arms crossed inside the sleeves of his pristine lab coat. Which meant he hadn't been been in his lab yet, otherwise his lab coat would be grungy or filled with holes from assorted, no doubt toxic, chemicals.  
"Now, Buttercup," her dad said calmly yet firmly. "You know how I feel about motorcycles. They're unstable, unsafe vehicles and you could hurt or worse."  
"I don't get hurt very easily, Professor." Buttercup insisted.  
"A few years ago, you weren't easily injured, but now you're just as vulnerable as the rest of us. I don't want my little girl to be hurt in some sort of--"  
"But, Professor, I'm in high school now. I'm not a little girl! Worry about scaredy little Bubbles all you want, but I can take care of myself. Besides what am I supposed to do, tell Ace to come back when he has something safer?"  
"It's just that I worry about you, Buttercup. Of the three of you, you've taken the loss of your powers the hardest. The first few days, all you did was sit and mope and that scared me more than you can imagine. If I lost you...  
"It's nothing against Ace, he's become a fine young man in the past few years. It's just that, I'm not certain he realizes you _aren't_ indestructible anymore. That you can be hurt as easily as anyone now. I want you to be safe. Make sure to wear a helmet, bring your cell phone, and if you feel uncomfortable in any way--" the Professor said solemnly.  
Surprising him, Buttercup interrupted her father by hugging him. He stiffened in shock a little. Buttercup rarely ever hugged Professor Utonium, or anyone really. That was more Bubbles's area.  
"Don't worry, Professor. I'll be safe, I promise." she said into his shoulder.  
Buttercup released her creator from her embrace and raced out the door before he could utter another word.  
"Hey, youse, hop on. We gots places ta go an' people ta see." Ace said upon seeing her. His voice, while still nasally had gotten deeper over the years. He had also gotten taller and his arms had some muscle tone. However, he still wore his signature shades, vest, and greasy black hair.  
"I hope this is your way of saying you have a surprise for me. You were almost 45 minutes later than usual." Buttercup said as she strapped on a green helmet with skulls emblazoned upon it.  
"Trust me, green-eyes, you're gonna love this." Ace said with a smirk.


	2. Chemical X-traction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace has found a large store of Chemical X just outside Townsville and now Buttecup must make the difficult decision about what to do with it. But will she choose correctly?

They had almost reached the grungy town of Cityville when Ace pulled over in front of a rusty warehouse. He shrugged out of his helmet and got off the bike. Buttercup followed suite.  
"I gots a couple o' things to show you, but I thought I should go with this first. Before I shows you this, I thought I should say something first. B, I think you're great as you are. I think you're strong an' capable as when you had powers. You're still a fighter. Heck, I think you could still even fight crime if youse felt like it. An' at the same time, I know if you'd been a normal lil' girl like Professor Utonium had intended, we'd probably never woulda met. I'd still be knockin' over convenience stores with the boys and we definitely wouldn't be havin' this conversation right now. Without your powers, we'd never have become the people we are t'day.  
"I think you should have a choice in the matter, B, an' your sisters, too. Earlier t'day, Grubber an' I found this warehouse, see, that's what took me so long. The thing 'bout it is, well, youse oughta see it for yourself, green-eyes." Ace told her.  
Buttercup narrowed her large eyes in suspicion at the rusty derelict warehouse. It had clearly been abandoned for years.  
She hoped it wasn't one of Ace's famous pranks. It had been funny, cute even, the first hundred times, but now it was just irritating. Though after last time, Buttercup doubted he would try pranking her again. (Even without powers, Buttercup was a powerful adversary and not someone you wanted to make angry.)  
Buttercup wrenched open the warehouse door and peered into the blackness.  
"I don't see anything. This isn't some sort of jump-scare you have planned with your Gang is it?"  
"No, no. We learned our lesson after last time. Here, I brought a flashlight." Ace said hastily, handing it to her.  
She clicked the flashlight on, glancing around the warehouse. At first, she saw only row upon row of moldy cardboard boxes, but then her eyes locked onto the label on one box in particular...  
"How in the heck did you find this?" Buttercup demanded.  
"Plain dumb luck, that's how. Someone called in a tip an' it lead me an' the boys ta this particular address. There's 'bout twenty boxes full o' the stuff. Pretty sweet, huh? It's like someone wanted you to find this place, eh, Buttercup?" Ace said smugly.  
Buttercup was only half paying attention as she peered into the contents of the box that could change everything back to normal. Well, as normal as it got in Townsville. There, nestled in the surprisingly dry interior of the box, were around a dozen or so vials of Chemical X.  
"I thought there wasn't any Chemical X left in the entire world. I've searched everywhere trying to find some, to make everything go back to normal. In two years, I've never been able to find so much as a drop and now out of nowhere, there's more Chemical X than I could ever need in a lifetime? That's just too easy. Nothing is ever that easy. I learned that the hard way." Buttercup mused, holding a vial to the light.  
"Well, B, if it was me, I'd say don't look a gift horse in the snout, but it's your call." Ace said from behind her.  
"If Blossom were here she'd say, "we should let the Professor analyze it in his lab first." If Bubbles were here she'd say, "we should let cute, fluffy, little animals have it so they could talk and have super powers! Wouldn't that be so cute!" Buttercup imitated her sisters. "But I'm not sure if we should destroy them or study them or use them on ourselves. For now, I think...I think I need time to think about it. After all, no matter what I do, it's gonna affect me, Blossom, Bubbles, the Professor, and you, too, Ace. For now, I think we need to find a nice hiding spot for theses, somewhere no one would think to look."  
Ace nodded. "Lemme call the boys up so they can takes the Chemical X somewheres safe."  
While Ace's back was turned, Buttercup reached into the box of Chemical X and pulled out a single vial of the blackish liquid. She stared at it longingly for a moment. "Long time, no see, Mom." she thought. That one tiny vial had so much potential. It could do so much good or so much evil... and it was Buttercup who had to decide what should happen to do with it next.  
"C'mon, green-eyes, we'll miss the movie if we don't gets going now!" Ace called.  
Buttercup slipped the Chemical X into her jacket pocket before she could change her mind.

Long after Ace dropped her off at home and she had crawled into her bed, (no longer the pink, green, and blue one she used to share with her sisters) Buttercup thought about the vial of Chemical X she'd taken. It was practically burning a hole in her pocket. She stared up at the white ceiling of her bed room, thinking only of the little test tube that could turn her life around.  
"I could be a super-hero again. I could fight crime. I could save the day before bed time. I could fly. I could--" Buttercup whispered to herself.  
"Mph, Buttercup be quiet. I have a big calculus exam in the morning." Blossom grunted. In the darkness, Buttercup saw her rolling onto her side. Buttercup cursed internally. She hadn't realized that she'd been thinking aloud.  
She'd have to be more careful. While the Girls' hearing was no longer super sonic, it was still exceptional.  
Buttercup waited until she was certain both of her sisters were asleep, and then she crawled out from underneath her pastel green comforter. She retrieved her jacket from it's hiding place in the closet and shrugged it on over her green pajamas.  
As silently as she could, Buttercup snuck out her bedroom door... and ran right into Professor Utonium.  
"Oh, Professor... I, um, just needed to, uh... use the bathroom." Buttercup said hastily.  
He didn't respond and a moment later, Buttercup recognized the blank look on her creator's face: he was sleepwalking. She breathed a sigh or relief. (She had never been very good at lying to her father. He saw through her in a way that even Blossom and Bubbles, especially Bubbles, never could. ) She had seen the Professor do it before, years ago, and it had almost resulted in his arrest. He almost always sleep walked in times of stress or anxiety. Buttercup wondered what could've been bothering him that night.  
She easily sidestepped her father and headed towards the bathroom.

"Well, fingers, nose, this might be the last time we see each other. I guess this is good-bye for now." Buttercup said to her reflection in the bathroom mirror.  
She took one last look at herself, the ordinary little girl she had been for the past two years of her life, and then she opened up the Chemical X.

"Buttercup, Buttercup, I know it's you in there! Open the door! C'mon, I gotta get ready for my calculus test! It counts for sixty-five percent of my grade this semester and if I miss it I'll fail!" Blossom shouted, pounding on the bathroom door.  
The door suddenly fell open, and Blossom gasped at what she saw inside.  
"Oh, Buttercup, what have you done?" she whispered.


	3. The X-Plosive Finale

Buttercup was soaring high above like never before. The wind hurtled past her ear and through her short black bob of hair. Of all her powers, even more so than super strength, she had missed the absolute freedom of flight more than anything else.  
She waved and let out an whoop of elation, much to the shock of the passengers on the air plane whose path she had just flown in front of. Subtlety wasn't not in Buttercup's nature and she figured at least one photograph of her flight would grace the cover of Townsville Tribune. But that's what she wanted though, to let everyone know that Buttercup Utonium was back in action and ready to fight any baddy this city had. And she was ready. Buttercup had spent two excruciating years, longing and waiting to fight crime again. Even if she had to do it in nothing but silky green pajamas and a jacket.  
Then, almost as if on cue, Buttercup heard a monstrous roar off in the distance and the screams of frightened Townsvillians.  
"Finally, something to punch." she said, though no one could hear her.  
She could almost picture the PowerPuff Hotline ringing, Blossom picking it up, and the former Mayor, a tiny white-haired man with a monocle, who couldn't so much as open a pickle jar by himself, informing them that Townsville was in trouble. Of course, the Hotline had been disconnected long ago. Even if the Girls hadn't lost their powers, it would've been impractical, because there really was no longer one given place they were together anymore.  
While Buttercup and Bubbles both attended the local high school, they had completely different schedules, classes, and teachers. Blossom, on the other hand, was in college, going for her Master's degree in genetic engineering. Buttercup figured it was her way of coping with her lack of powers. That perhaps Blossom was secretly searching for a way to restore her, Bubbles, and Buttercup's Chemical X given abilities. If she was, Buttercup reflected, she was doing a heck of a job keeping mum about it.

Ace's phone rang loudly in his back pocket, disrupting the sounds of explosions, cars, and gun shots the arcade was always filled with. He pulled it out of his pocket, read the name on the caller ID.  
"Snake take the joystick. This coulds be important." Ace told his friend.  
"Sssir, yess, sssir, bossss." Snake hissed.  
Snake took over for Ace, who had been playing a racing game against Arturo. Ace walked out the arcade door, and answered the shrilly ringing cell phone.  
"Hullo," he sighed into the speaker.  
"Have you seen Buttercup?' a voice asked frantically.  
"Not since yesterday. Whassup?'  
"She's gone. I-I don't for how long, but when I got up, the bathroom door was locked--and--and when...when I opened it, the place was trashed. The sink was broken, the window was wide open, and there was a vial of Chemical X on the carpet." Blossom said it so quickly that it took him a minute to process what she'd said.  
Ace's blood ran cold and he nearly dropped his phone on the sidewalk.  
"I--but--she told me to--to hide it. I thoughts-- I thoughts--for sure Buttercup would waits fer youse an' Bubbles ta take any." he stuttered.  
"You knew she had Chemical X!" the pink PowerPuff shrieked in his ear.  
"I--"  
"How did you find any? How? We thought it was all gone." Blossom's voice broke.  
Ace told her everything. How a mysterious caller had phoned in a tip to the Gangreen Gang about a derelict warehouse, how he and Grubber had searched it, finding box upon box of Chemical X, how he had taken Buttercup there before their date.  
"...I didn't know she tooks any, I swears it, Blossom. She said we should hide it until you-- all _three_ o' you-- decided whats ta do with it. I jus' thought maybe... maybe if she had her powers back, she'd be backs ta normal, ya know how down in the dumps she's been. I thought maybe Buttercup would get better if-- An' now, she's gone. I shoulda known better. Green-eyes never did take the transition well. I--" Ace's voice shook.  
"It's not your fault. Buttecup was, quite literally, born a fighter. She would have found a way to get her powers back somehow," Blossom's sigh crackled in Ace's ear. "But, I am going to need to analyze a few vials in the Professor's lab. And I'll need it soon. For all we know, whoever tipped you off could have... tampered with it."

Buttercup dealt the giant lizard a devastating uppercut to its scaly chin. Again and again and again. It had been lying there unconscious for five minutes, yet she wasn't done punching it just yet.  
"Buttercup, that's enough. You're going to kill it if you don't stop." said a familiar, soothing voice. Ms. Bellum, no, Mayor Bellum now.  
Buttercup stopped, panting, and wiped the creature's gray-green blood on her already shredded pants.  
"Are you alright? How did you get your powers back? What about Blossom and Bubbles?" Mayor Bellum asked.  
"All that matters is that I'm back and I won't leave Townsville undefended again." Buttercup told the elegant red-haired woman.  
She made to fly away, but something caught her eye. She could've sworn she saw a large purple and white striped hat in the crowd around her, just for an instant.  
"Mojo? But no one's seen him since--" Buttercup muttered.  
Something exploded inside her. Pain swirled around in her stomach as she clutched it, trying to stop the blood from gushing beneath her fingers. There were screams; Buttercup screamed. Her vision blurred and then she was falling, falling, falling...

Blossom had answered the phone. Bubbles was at school and the Professor was tinkering in his lab, so they didn't know the terrible news. That Buttercup was in the hospital and she might be dying. Blossom numbly called Ace for a ride over. He was there in ten minutes, on time for the first time in his life.  
She was relieved that Ace had shown up in a beat up olive drab van instead of the motorcycle he'd been driving yesterday. Had it really only been the day before?  
"A'ight, go get the Professor an' Bubbles an' we'll gets goin'." Ace said.  
"They're not coming, at least, not yet. I'll call them... I'll call them when we get there. Dad, the Professor, thinks I'm at college right now, and for all he knows, I passed that calculus test with flying colors. It'll be one less thing for him to worry about." Blossom said. She was tired, so tired of this day already.  
"Oooh, Blossom's skippin' class! Blossom's skippin' class! Blossom's--"  
"No, actually, I just rescheduled it for Wednesday." Blossom mumbled.  
"Well, it's a step forward for ya, stiff." Ace smirked.  
Blossom glared at him. She was about to tell him off for trying to crack jokes at a time like this, but she had a feeling that under those sunglasses of his, he was just as scared and exhausted as she was.

They had arrived at the hospital an hour ago and for at least half that long, Blossom had been trying to call the Professor. Cursing enough to make a sailor cringe, Blossom remembered that he left his phone off the hook in the lab because he felt it "interfered with the scientific process".  
The most annoying part of this was that the nurse, an elderly woman with beady gray eyes, refused to admit them to Buttercup's room until a parent or guardian arrived. Blossom wished Bubbles was with them. She probably would've started crying and causing such a scene that the nurse would have been forced to let them in.  
Instead, Ace and the crotchety old woman got into a fight in the hallway.  
"...I don't care if you're Major Glory's new teen side-kick, Pace--"  
"That's Ace."  
"It's family admittance only."  
"She's my girlfriend!"  
"Aren't you a little old to be dating a fifteen-year-old, Jace?"  
"Ace, it's Ace. An' really, it ain't that many years diff'rence. What's it ta you anyways, ya old buzz--"  
"Enough! Look, ma'am, I'm the patient's sister and I think you should let him go in and sit with her. I know she's sleeping and not in very good shape, but Buttercup would appreciate it if she knew Ace was with her. Just for twenty minutes, please?" Blossom begged.  
The nurse's tiny little eyes narrowed. "If I get in trouble--"  
"Trust me, you won't. If you want to help out, you could try to contact my father or call my sister's-- my other sister-- school. She goes to Laura Keane Memorial High."

Blossom, Bubbles, and Ace sat in Buttercup's hospital room while the doctor spoke to Professor Utonium.  
"...Ingested explosives...bad shape....additional surgeries...she has a very rare blood type, I've never seen it before on record... Chemical X in her system is trying to heal her...still require blood transfusion...Are either of your other daughters a match?"  
Bubbles sat at Buttercup's right, sobbing loudly into her beloved stuffed octopus, Octi. It was an improvement from earlier, when she had fainted at the sight of her dark-haired triplet. Ace was seated towards Buttercup's left, clutching her pale hand in his green one. Blossom had never seen him so quiet or still. Blossom sat next to the sobbing Bubbles, patting her on the back and muttering meaningless condolences as she eavesdropped on the adults' conversation.  
Blossom had never been as scared for Buttercup at any other time than she was then. Her sister, normally so full of vigor and attitude, was lying pale and sweaty across from her. Every once in a while she'd whimper or stir, but other than that, she was utterly lifeless. If Buttercup died... Blossom dared not finish the thought. She felt as if she did, Buttercup would cease up and enter into oblivion right then and there.  
"Blossom, Bubbles, would you mind stepping into the hall?" the doctor prodded, standing in the door way.  
Blossom nodded solemnly, her big red bow bobbing back and forth. "C'mon, Bubbles."  
"Now, girls," the doctor said in a tone that sounded as though she thought they were quite young or slow. "Your sister has lost quite a lot of blood and she's going to require a transfusion. She does, however, have a very rare blood type and we're hoping one of you is a match. Do either of you know what your blood type is?"  
"N-no." Bubbles whimpered. She was terrified of needles, among other things.  
"I'm afraid not, ma'am, but if you're going to test to see if we're a match, I'd like to go first." Blossom said.  
"Thanks, Blossom." her blond sibling whimpered.  
She wasn't though, and neither was Bubbles. It turned out that Ace's blood was a match. Bubbles had tried to hide the relief in her large blue eyes when she realized she wouldn't have another needle stuck in her arm that day, but Blossom saw it clear as day.  
Blossom wondered if it was something in his mutated DNA (Ace was, after all, pale green and had fangs that stuck out of either side of his mouth) or if perhaps he had taken the chance and used the tainted Chemical X on himself. If, no, when Buttercup woke up and discovered that he had done so, Ace D. Copular would be in for it.  
They pumped Ace's blood into a see-through bag with a straw-like tube, gave him juice and a cookie so he wouldn't become woozy, and hauled the unconscious PowerPuff into surgery.  
An eternity later, Buttercup was released from surgery. Her midsection was so covered in stitches and bandages that she looked like a cross between a mummy and Frankenstein's monster. Despite that, Blossom felt that she looked better. There was more color to Buttercup's skin and she was breathing more regularly.  
"Don't worry, Buttercup," Blossom thought. "One day we'll find some untainted Chemical X, and whoever did this to you will pay."  
Buttercup stirred, as though sensing her sister's thoughts. Blossom squeezed her hand lightly.  
"I love you, sis. We've had our differences over the years, but I thought you should know. If you won't wake up for me, do it for the Professor, Bubbles, and Ace, okay?" the red-head sniffled.  
"Mojo...Mojo was there...when I fell." Buttercup said softly. Blossom was almost sure she had imagined it.  
"I think...he planted the explosives... in the Chemical X."  
"That's impossible, no one's seen Mojo since--" Blossom muttered.  
"Oh my gosh, Prooo-ffffesss-ooorrr! Buttercup's awake!" came Bubbles's ear-shattering squeal of delight.  
Their father jerked awake, rubbing at his stubbly face. He looked almost as haggard as Blossom felt. Professor Utonium rushed to his daughter's side, pulling her into an embrace.  
"Thank goodness you're awake." he said into her hair.  
"Ow, Professor. My stomach...too tight." Buttercup wheezed.  
He loosened his grip, but only slightly. "If you weren't already injured, I would ground you until you were thirty-five."  
"Are you alright, Buttercup?" Bubbles asked.  
"Yes, Bubbles I feel just dandy after having been partially blown up." Buttercup said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  
"That's my sister, alright!" Bubbles squealed, wrapping her arms around her.  
"Ugh, knock it off." Buttercup grunted.  
Blossom, Bubbles, and the Professor all hugged Buttercup and they were silent for a long moment.  
"Where's Ace? " Buttercup asked softly. "I woke up a couple o' times and he was here, holding my hand."  
"There was a bank robbery and he had to go. I could tell he would've stayed if he could." Blossom told her.  
Buttercup nodded quietly. If their roles had been reversed, she would have had to do the same, but still, she wished Ace was there right then.  
"How long have I been out?"  
The Professor checked his watch. "Only about thirty-six hours."  
"Maybe there's still time then. When I-- I fell, I could've sworn I saw Mojo Jojo in the crowd." the green PowerPuff said, taking a deep breath.  
If her father had been holding anything, it would've shattered on the hospital floor. They all went pale, shocked expressions on their faces.  
"But, how? No one's seen him since-- since the night Ms. Keane--since the night Laura died." the Professor said.  
It had been five years since the Girls' ex-Kindergarten teacher turned step-mother had been murdered at the hands of their furry arch-nemesis, but they still felt her loss acutely. After they defeated him, Mojo Jojo had disappeared and was thought dead...until now.  
"I dunno, Professor, but he was there. I could feel it."  
"We need to call the police, the FB--"  
"No need, I have my powers back. I could find him and wham! Problem solved."  
"Not right now you're not. Even with the Chemical X in your system, it could be weeks before you're properly healed. I won't have you go and get yourself hurt again when you're still healing," her creator replied.  
"But--but--Professor--" Buttercup complained.  
"Wait until you've healed properly, and then you hit that evil little monkey fast and you hit him hard. In the mean time, I've been tinkering with trying make a new batch of Chemical X for your sisters. Once you're ready, we'll show Mojo just how resilient the Utoniums are. I promise." he amended.  
"You really mean it?"  
"We've talked it over. That monkey has brought enough pain and suffering to our family and to Townsville over the years, it's time he gets his due." Blossom said.  
"Bubbles?"  
The blond PowerPuff nodded meekly. "We're the PowerPuff Girls, if we can't do it, than no one can."


End file.
